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cyanide-latte · 2 years

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Got to thinking again today about pirating media and how many people make it about a moral quandary and how we here on Tumblr tend to be very gung-ho about pirating and this time in particular it boiled down to what I think the root is of why I'm largely okay with it.*

(*please take note, this post is about pirating platform-exclusive movies and shows. I do not support or condone piracy of books, comics/graphic novels or manga unless literally no other option is available to you. I've been a teen who had no choice but to read awful scanlations for manga growing up because I wasn't able to or allowed to purchase physical copies or even borrow them from the library. So I know that struggle, and I'm sympathetic to a degree. But please support your libraries, ask the librarians to teach you how to use the system, and use it to help support authors and artists before it is a legal and free way that actually helps. If you are in a situation where you have literally no choice for now, I recommend being responsible and trying to either buy the physical books when you can to help make things up or use a library when you are finally able to and borrow the materials, in order to still show support.)

This is probably my age showing but when I was a kid, we recorded shit on the VCR all the time. Buying actual movies was still something we did when we could, but in the 90s, stuff on VHS could get as high as $40 [USD] sometimes. Not all of them were, but the prices tended to be high enough we couldn't really afford to buy them ourselves; those had to be asked for as Christmas or birthday gifts, and even that wasn't a guarantee we'd open a rectangular gift to find a brand-new clamshell of the newest Disney movie.

But you know what we could afford to get? Blank video tapes. Depending on the brand and the length of the tape strip, they could cost as little as $3.99, and you could often get multiple blank tapes for a decent price. (I vaguely recall a half-dozen pack of tapes for maybe $25? We got a few of those when I was around 7 or 8 y.o.) And we would use that "Record" function on the VCR. We caught movies on the TV way less often than we would have liked because without a TVGuide or knowing someone who kept up with movie showtimes on various channels, you were kind of at the mercy of fate and fortune. Plus, we rarely tried to record a TV run of a movie if it was one we knew we REALLY wanted to buy on VHS.

Ah but shows! Shows we could generally depend on. You learned what channel(s) it played on and when, and you'd time it so you could record your episode(s), commercials included, and stop recording at the end of it. Presto! I could watch my episodes of Batman the Animated Series or Wishbone whenever I wanted. I'd have it forever (well, for as long as the tape can last anyway) even if the show went off the air and it didn't get any real VHS release. Lots of shows did get VHS releases, but they were limited to maybe three random episodes per tape, and were not usually for regular sale at most retailers; they were on the shelves of rental video stores and we couldn't keep them.

Until we got a special VCR that allowed us to record a copy of a tape onto one of our blanks. Again, not an endeavor we really did with movies, but when the family decided we were going to move in the future and wouldn't be sure we'd have a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video or Family Video wherever we were moving to, there'd be a burst of going to the nearest rental chain and carefully picking the tapes we knew we loved and wanted to be able to watch again, renting them for a couple of days, and putting that copy/record VCR to work before returning the proper copy back to the video store. Or if some friends had a movie and we wouldn't see them again, there was often an offer to record copies of their tapes. Didn't happen often but it was a handy solution to the desire to have access to the media in the long-term, and it wasn't looked down on as far as I can ever remember, because everyone recorded stuff on blank tapes and none of those people had no major moral crises about making copies in order to have the movies/shows they loved.

Now, when DVDs came out, things got a little bit different. DVD players and DVDs were expensive at the start, so the cost of all VHS tapes gradually started dropping. As with pretty much anything, pirating DVDs took off before long and soon just about every DVD had that in-your-face message about piracy, reminding you that copying and selling bootleg DVDs was illegal and "piracy isn't a victimless crime". I only vaguely recall being annoyed with DVD piracy, because what bootlegs I tended to see were extremely bad quality, and it was more annoyance at the idea that you could be swindled out of your money for something of barely-watchable quality. (I was 10 at the time and had not ever yet had to face the idea I could one day fall victim to being swindled myself, cut me just a little bit of slack there.) But to me it didn't really seem any different than what everyone I knew or ever interacted with did with VHS tapes. Selling the bootlegs to make your own profit, that I did eventually get; a chunk of a movie or show's success soon came to depend on DVD sales, and for a while I was very anti-piracy in that regard. But I never saw an issue with like, making DVD copies to trade with friends if we were able to do that.

Now it's 2022 and we are so inundated with streaming platforms left-right-and-center, I don't have regular TV channels or cable or satellite. I use a streaming platform to find what I want to watch, or a pirating site if what I want to watch isn't available otherwise. I also have a very large DVD and Blu-ray collection, and I use them regularly. And, the more and more so many streaming platforms release "exclusive" movies or shows that you won't be able to watch anywhere else and that they have no intent of making physical releases of? The more and more I find myself reverting to the mindset I had as a kid, wanting to make a copy of that Swan Princess tape we could only find at Blockbuster but couldn't afford to constantly rent. It isn't that I don't want to support the movies or shows themselves, or the people who pour themselves into making something I love. I want to support them in any way I can, including watching it on the platform if I have access to said platform.

But sometimes those platforms just...quietly remove the titles they've carried. Sometimes they jack their prices too high and I can't afford to keep paying that fee month after month because it stacks over time. Most often, I want to collect the media physically so I have the opportunity to revisit it in the future whenever I want, especially if I have a friend who has never seen it or even had access to it before. Physical media is wonderful, and there's something special about owning it. It's the same kind of special magic that it's always been about when I was 10 and could hold a freshly recorded VHS tape with episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess on it and know it was mine now for keeps.

This has already been quite a lengthy ramble and it's very colored by a sense of nostalgia, but for once I think that nostalgia really has come in handy for explaining why my outlook on something like pirating shows and movies is the way it is. I don't like this platform-exclusive direction; it's more or less just another paywall that can prevent entire swathes of potential audiences from connecting with movies and shows, and at this point, it's becoming almost too much for me to keep up with. So no, I have no moral quandary about cancelling subscriptions at some point and pirating episodes and movies and burning them onto a physical copy for keeps, and any reservations I used to have about buying bootlegs? Gone. I've seen blu-ray bootleg releases of platform-exclusive media that are much higher and more accessible quality than some official stuff, especially the made-on-demand stuff. At this point, I gotta respect the hustle and I can't complain about someone who burns a DVD better than I could.

Yo ho ho, y'all.

#long post #physical media #piracy #platform exclusivity #pirating media #streaming services #VHS nostalgia #personal experience #personal post #not sure what else to tag this #Cyanide speaks

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hag-lad · 1 year

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Okay I just gotta get this out. I fucking despise employment culture. I know that work is the only way that anything can ever get done, I know that labor is important, I know that it’s only driving me crazy to think of work as optional when every facet of reality is abundantly clear that work is mandatory. I know! And I still can’t fuckin stand it.

I quit my job in December and haven’t even interviewed for another one. I’m 2 months behind on my car payments, drowning in debt, and basically unable to function for how broke and miserable I am. I know that I should just step up and get a goddam job. But there is nothing I can see myself doing. I’ve either done it already and know intimately how much I hate it, or it’s utterly out of left field and I’m abysmally under-qualified. I’ve worked so much in my life, and I’m fucking tired of it. I literally am the bratty millennial stereotype who “doesn’t wanna work these days.” I literally don’t wanna work! I’m in like a protracted toddler-grade tantrum over this shit. I’ve seen too much of the workforce and I can’t stand it anymore.

I am dizzy from this whirlpool of hatred I’ve trapped myself in. I can’t be employed in a field I’m passionate about, because it makes me too crazy. Even “important” jobs that “help people” are all lies and bureaucracy and in-fighting and politics and conflict and questionable ethics and heartbreak and misery and sadness and stress, stress, SO MUCH STRESS. Then artistic or creative jobs are the opposite, where they feel so appallingly frivolous and superficial, I lose my mind spiraling about how much waste goes into the whole thing, the very first-world nature of it all. And then I can’t even take respite in a job that I’m not ultra passionate about, because it’s so time-consuming and monotonous, I feel like I’m wasting my life!

I’ve done so many different types of jobs, way more than most people my age, I feel like I have firsthand knowledge of exactly how ill-fitted I am to work anywhere. I’m a shitty employee, and I have nothing resembling the will to get better! I don’t give a fraction of a fuck about professionalism, I absolutely never show up on time, I use every millisecond of sick pay and frequently take unpaid days off just cuz I hate being at work so much, and no proximity to any of my “dream jobs” has ever even come remotely close to fixing this. I’m habitually tardy, flaky, and my attitude is so bad I’ve made enemies out of wildly different types of people. I can’t seem to get along with anyone, and I don’t fucking want to! This was even the case when I was making $36/hr doing a job that was basically tailor-made to my strengths and interests. If even that can’t get me on a path to enjoying work? I don’t think anything will!!!!!

And I hate, hate, HATE when people suggest jobs at me like I haven’t considered them. I just want to grab them and shake them. I HAVE ALREADY THOUGHT ABOUT IT, WHATEVER IT IS. I have already googled it, looked into how to get into it, considered what it would take, and decided against it. I’ve thought about being a social worker, nurse, plumber, electrician, teacher, therapist, doula, IT guy, car mechanic, bike mechanic, photographer, graphic artist, talent manager, veterinary technician, librarian, general contractor, cosmetologist, mortician, park ranger, HR guy, transcriber, grant writer, student, botanist, gardener, sanitation worker, solar panel tech, retail monkey, babysitter, foster parent, dog walker, AND LIKE TEN THOUSAND OTHER THINGS. Okay?! I’ve already thought about it! I’ve already looked into it! The problem is not lack of ideas. It’s attitude. It always has been attitude.

I’m fuckin 30 years old, man! My brain is harder to fight now than ever before. I feel so deeply, inexorably set in my ways, so fixed and rooted in this way of looking at the world and existing around other humans, it is like a maze with no exit. I can run around and drive myself insane looking for the way out, but I know deep down that I am going to die here. There’s no fuckin way out. There is no “fulfilling career,” there is no “dream job.” There aren’t even jobs where I’ll be able to tolerate the daily grind. There are only prisons with varying levels of brutality. Some are worse than others, but they’re all prisons. I know this is all very privileged and spoiled and whiny. Believe me, I know. And the fact is, my car will get repossessed if I don’t figure this shit out. But I will violently hate wherever I wind up next, that’s a guarantee. Because I hate everything! And I can’t just stop hating. I try all the time, and it just comes back worse every time.

Nobody ever tells you this. Nobody sympathizes with lazy, angry people. We’re the exact type of person that people hate the most. We are not lovable, we are not virtuous, we can’t make the world better. We were put on this earth to suffer, then die as a relief to everyone who had the burden of knowing us. Some people are just shitheads, and that is how I see myself, way more than any career path. Just a fuckin shithead waiting to die! Lmao

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georgedpr · 16 years

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Online shopping sites have revolutionized the retail market. It could be argued that sites like Amazon.com changed the way Americans and the world consume. Rather than traveling to the store and browsing consumers can browse a virtual warehouse and order from the comfort of their armchairs. However, lost amid the development of these sites is the value of browsing. These sites are perfect for those situations where the consumer understands what they are looking for or has a product in mind. Though currently, most shopping sites do a mediocre if the not terrible job of helping people find things they aren’t looking for.

A perfect example of this phenomenon is Amazon.com. While Amazon sells everything from action figures to appliances I mostly shop there for books. I tend to read mostly within the fantasy and science fiction genre which Amazon carries a decent selection. Now Amazon does do some interesting things to attempt to help users find similar material. They show which percentage of people who bought item X also bought items Y and Z. Or they allow users to tag different entries with keywords that reflect that user’s perceptions of the item.[1] However, these are all quantitative efforts that churn out results based on a secret sauce algorithm that lurks on a server buried somewhere deep below Amazon HQ. The site’s qualitative attempts to match users with new material or items are not particularly thought-provoking.

I recently found myself staring at the entry on Amazon for Hardwired.

A science/fiction novel from Walter Jon Williams about a cybernetically enhanced warrior battling it out in a future earth. I found the book through a roundabout method that has only been available since the internet crept out of its servers in a DARPA mainframe to extend throughout the world.

I had been searching for books that were similar to Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. I stumbled onto the book about a year ago by way of a friend of a friend and quickly gobbled up the entire series and Mr. Scalzi’s other works. Finding books similar to Scalzi’s work in both quality and genre has been a difficult task (save for Heinlein’s Starship Troopers which I had already read). Thankfully, Mr. Scalzi provides a venue on his site for new authors to display their work he calls the “Big Idea” and I have found that an excellent place to find recommendations. There I ran across a recommendation for Forever War which in turn gave me the link to Hardwired.

Scrolling down the page I came across the subject headings for the title. For any non-librarian types essentially the subject headings are the categories (mystery, fiction, etc.) that the book falls into that give clues about the book’s content.

The folks at Amazon described the book with eight different subject headings that basically said the same thing or attributed certain formats (graphic novels) that don’t apply to the work. Clearly, anyone looking at the subject headings would not get the best idea about what the book was about other than science fiction.[2] I don’t blame the cataloger or whoever decided to ascribe these traits to the novel. Even the best craftsman can only do so much with substandard tools. There Since Amazon.com sells/catalogs so many items their system for categorization has to cover so many subjects the granularity for the system is blunted. Rather than simply science fiction why not create a further level in the taxonomy to include military science fiction, near-future science fiction, etc?

Rather than having a single large taxonomy that tries to cover everything at the expense of the granular concepts it would be better to have several smaller more specific taxonomies that can then be mapped together if need be. Right now keyword searches work cause the amount of information online is manageable. However, anyone who looks past the first two pages of results from any popular search engine will see that the results vary. Customized and specialized taxonomies will help users find the resources, but also the best resources for their needs.

1 If you are looking for a better example of tagging see LibraryThing. Though “better” is simply my opinion and in the interest of full disclosure I have met the LibraryThing Librarian, and the company is headquartered not far from where I grew up. Therefore, a bias on my part should be assumed. ↩

2 Some might answer that the only people to look at subject headings/categorization are librarians. While I would tend to agree with that assessment I would also argue that if subject headings/categorization gave more information or were more relevant then maybe more non-librarian users might employ them. ↩

#Librarian--Taxonomy

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criticallyacclaimedstranger · 3 years

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Fic: What We Don't Know Can't Hurt Us

Fandom: Triple Frontier

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Librarian!Reader (cishet female) meet-cute

Warnings: No warnings really, some language and mention of masturbation and sex. Reader doesn't like kids. Yearning. Frankie is a TOTAL DILF SWEETHEART. Sad ending.

Summary: Reader is a librarian who has to temp at the kids' section desk from time to time which is a pain because she doesn't like kids. And who is a regular if not a very hot, scruffy-looking dad with the very polite and mild-mannered daughter? Sparks fly but some things maybe aren't meant to be.

Words: 5,155

a/n: Just to be clear, this one doesn't end well. I just wanted to write something sad, I guess.

Oh, shit, there he is again. The Hot Dad.

You straighten a little in your chair and once again curse the fact that you’re working in the children’s section at the library: the only desk that isn’t adjustable. You prefer to do your service desk duties standing up, not only for ergonomic reasons but because you hate how patrons look down on you – literally – when you’re seated by the desk. Also, you tend to slouch and it’s not an attractive look. And at the kids’ section, you’re all supposed to work on the same level as the little tykes. And you’re not particularly keen on those.

You are, however, keen on hot dads. God knows you only get them once in a blue moon and if they show up, it’s usually in tow of a whole clan of children and a wife. But this dad has been in once before when you’ve had desk duty and you saw him stop at the shelf for picture books about divorce and pick out a few. You also heard him tell his little girl that she shouldn’t bring the books she chose to her mom’s. Divorcee, so fantasizing was even more allowed – although he probably had a girlfriend. Guys like that always do.

“You don’t want to lose them, sweetie,” he had explained patiently to his daughter. “You can keep them in your room at my place but if you take them to your mom’s there’s a risk you lose them and that means I have to pay for them. You see, we’re only borrowing these books, that’s what you do in a library.”

You had smiled an inwards smile when listening to him. There was nothing you loved more than parents who actually seemed to understand that all the material in the library was free at one simple condition: return it in time, in the same condition as you borrowed it. A lot of people did not seem to grasp this and made a huge deal when they failed to meet these conditions and were faced with late fees or even had to compensate for lost books. But when parents who knew how to use a library include their offspring, explain how it all works for them, well, that’s how you foster a new generation of good library patrons.

This dad did just that. And he was very careful with the books, prompting his daughter to be the same. Every book she pulled out of the stacks, he helped her put back in the right place. That’s practically marriage material right there and it was enough to make you weak at the knees, to be honest. After almost ten years working in a public library, you were disillusioned about people in general and their intelligence in particular. Sure, you liked your job enough to not cry in the mornings when you had to leave bed, and you did enjoy the work itself (mostly), but… having to deal with people was exhausting. Having to deal with little people even more so, and the worst was having to deal with adult people who had little people with them. Parents.

Hence your absolute obsession with Hot Dad who was soft-spoken, really good with his kid, understood to appreciate the library and its services, nodded his hello to you when passing by the desk, didn’t make a mess, clearly read to his kid regularly and encouraged her to read for herself. You just didn’t get to see people like that so often, and it triggered your interest. You allowed yourself to daydream about him.

Francisco Morales. You remember his name from his last visit, when he and the kid came up to the desk with their haul. You always encouraged patrons to use the self-service check-out (the less you had to do deal with them, the better), but for this guy you were more than willing to go the extra service mile, even with the kid staring at your every move from across the desk as you registered all the loans. You silently gave her plus points for not trying to “help” like some kids did, and for the quiet but clear Thank you she gave you without prompting from her father.

You’re busying yourself with the returns, loading them onto a cart, when you hear a soft, deep voice go Excuse me behind your back. You twirl around and see Morales, pulling his baseball cap off his head to reveal curls that would make any hair model cry of envy.

“Sorry to bother you,” he offers. Take me now, you think to yourself but instead, you give him your brightest customer service smile, the one you rarely give patrons.

“No worries, how can I help?”

“We’re looking for picture books about farm animals. You don’t happen to have those separated? I noticed you have some subject areas separated.” He gestures back towards the picture book stacks where his daughter is quietly perusing.

“We don’t, but I think we have some Julia Donaldsons available, let me come and have a look.”

You don’t always offer. With most patrons, you’d tell them to look under D for Donaldson and then smile sweetly and ask them if they’re okay to do it themselves. You can’t do everything for everyone, that way they’ll never learn. But for Francisco Morales and his well-behaved little girl, you’re absolutely willing to make an exception.

There are some Donaldsons that the girl, whose name you learn is Sofia, eagerly accepts when you present her with them.

“I love fawm animals,” she sighs happily as she browses the first one. “Do you?”

“Who doesn’t love animals?” You make the effort to small talk although communicating with kids usually makes you awkward.

“What’s youw favowite? Mine is bunny. And howses. And lambs.”

“Goats! I love goats, they’re so cute and sweet and playful.” You almost add something about goats being the devil’s favorite animal as well but manage to stop yourself in time.

“Is there something else you want to ask the librarian?” Morales asks his daughter. “If not, I’m sure she has a lot of work to do, and we shouldn’t keep her any longer.”

“I’m here to help,” you shrug and give him a little smile: not a polite, impersonal one that you’d give a patron, but a more intimate one. A flirty smile. “You just need to ask.”

The smile he gives you back is warm and grateful, and you realize that he doesn’t have different facial expressions for different people. He doesn’t work in customer service because if he did, he’d know the difference. Not that you ever thought he worked in retail or anything like that, well, maybe a hardware store, but no. He just doesn’t seem like the type. The way he moves his body suggests something a lot more physical.

Oh, you’d like to get physical with him, alright…

All the sucky library-themed pick-up lines flash through your head. Can I check you out as an overnight loan? Can I insert my private collection into your empty stacks? My reference desk or yours? Am I being too loud, well, you’ll just have to shush me with your lips. You’re like an overdue library book because you have fine written all over you.

Worst part is, if Hot Dad Morales tried any of these on you, you’d probably forgive him and go for it. Maybe. You’re really not that simple, but a girl can dream, right?

The kid thanks you and you return to the relative safety of the desk and the mundane task of alphabetizing returns. You need to calm the fuck down and act professional. Daydreaming is fine but you’re barely toeing the line.

God, you need to get laid. As if that’s something that one can remedy just by walking into a store and ordering a medium dick with a side of hands and tongue.

📚📚📚

The next time you see Francisco and Sofia Morales, you’re taking your lunch break in the small park outside the library. It’s a sunny day and you didn’t fancy sitting in the breakroom with your salad, listening to colleagues talking about who cares what. So you took your lunch box, fork, and water bottle, and went to sit on the park bench the furthest away from the swing set and sandbox. The weather is nice and you enjoy yourself and your break from the library’s chat service. You never know what you’re gonna get when you work the chat: a stupid question about opening hours which anyone could google the answer to, or something more complicated like requests for books with partial or no titles, rarities, or subject areas that you don’t know much about. That’s when you get to use your whole competence and really dig deep, think outside the box, solve problems. You love it but it’s challenging at times, and takes a lot of energy. Your outdoor break is welcome.

“Hi!”

You hadn’t noticed the girl walking up to you and the greeting startles you.

“Oh, hi.”

“We’we wetuwning the animal books,” Sofia informs you seriously. You have to smile.

“Good job. You want more of those or something else this time?”

“Mowe. Will you help me find some?”

“I’m not working the desk at the children’s section today but my colleague there will absolutely help you. Just ask her.”

Now you see Morales walking towards you from the swing set, carrying the large, flowery canvas tote that says “book bag” he always brings to the library.

“Hello,” he nods with that warm smile that he definitely gives everyone. “Sofia, don’t disturb the lady on her break. I’m sure she wants some peace and quiet before she has to go back to work.”

Jesus fucking Christ. How does this man just know shit like this?

“I’m sowwy,” Sofia immediately offers. “I wanted to say hello.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay,” you allow, although technically, he’s not wrong. “I’m almost done. It was nice to see you. I hope you have a good visit to the library.”

“Thank you!” She skips along and Morales chuckles as he takes off his baseball cap and scratches his head, swipes his long locks out of his forehead, then puts the hat back on.

“You’re her favorite, you know,” he tells you. When you raise your eyebrow, not comprehending, he hurries to elaborate. “Of the librarians. She says you’re the best.”

“Thank you, but whatever for?” You know you do a good enough job at your usual position and that your regulars appreciate you, but you are also very aware of not being at your finest in the kids’ section.

“You have to ask her,” Morales grins as he looks out for his kid, who has returned to the swing set and is pumping her legs on the swing, brows knitted in concentration. “But she’s very taken with you. I think it’s because you’re very calm and focused with her.”

Calm and focused??? You almost laugh out loud. That’s everything you’re not when you’re at the kids’ desk.

“Thanks,” you manage, because you have to say something.

“She’s also really interested in your tattoos and I definitely think she wants to get her nose pierced now,” Morales goes on. “I told her that we don’t comment on people’s appearance, but just a heads up, she might ask you about those.”

Ah, the unpredictability of children.

“I appreciate it.” You really do. You don’t mind talking about your tattoos or the septum ring you have but if a kid suddenly asks about it, you’d rather be prepared.

“Anyway, sorry to intrude on your lunch.”

“No worries,” you reassure him. “You can… sit down for a while if you want to? I have ten minutes left.”

Your heart beats faster at your proposal. It’s not exactly appropriate but you just want to enjoy his company for a moment. And discreetly sniff him because he smells so fucking good, woodsy and smokey but with a hint of… vanilla? You’re terrible at recognizing smells but it reminds you of some aroma reeds you had a couple of years ago that smelled like a wood cabin with vanilla sugar spilled on the floor. You loved it but like everything you love, it was discontinued.

Morales looks over at his daughter before nodding, the book bag slipping down from his shoulder as he places it next to the bench.

“If you’re sure?”

“Wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”

He likes your straightforward answer, you can tell from how his eyes crinkle a little and how relaxed his body language is when he sits down.

“I��m Frankie, by the way,” he says, like he just remembered that introductions are a normal part of human interaction. He extends his right hand to you and as you accept it and tell him your name, you can’t help but marvel at how huge his hand is. Big, warm, slightly damp but not in a weird way.

“Nice to meet you, Frankie.” Frankie. Francisco Morales is Frankie. It suits him better than Francisco, to be honest.

“And that’s Sofia.” He points to the girl who seems content swinging by herself. You realize you’re expected to say something nice about her to the proud dad.

“She seems sweet.”

“Yeah, she’s awesome. And she loves coming to the library, it’s all she talks about when I have her.” He clears his throat and adds: “Her mother and I got divorced quite recently. I only get her five days every other week.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Shit, it’s divorce and custody talk from the start. You have no idea how to respond to that.

“That’s life,” he shrugs, “but I figured that going to the library every time I get her could be a good routine to ground her. And then we have books that we can read together for her entire stay.”

It’s definitely a good routine as far as you can tell.

“When I was between nine and thirteen years old, my dad would take me to the local library every Monday evening,” you tell him, smiling at the memory. “My dad never opened a book in his life but he patiently read the auto and tech magazines while I collected half the kids’ section with me. When I went to tell him that I was done, he always pretended to object to the amounts, but then he’d help me carry it all to the car.”

As you tell him this, you’re looking at him, no, staring at the patchy, grey-splashed beard he’s sporting. It’s the most fascinating thing you’ve ever seen. What’s the story there, why doesn’t it grow evenly? Is this a thing? You don’t have enough experience in the field of facial hair. Is it genetic? Is it always like this?

He keeps looking at his daughter as he listens to you with a small smile on his face, clearly enjoying your little anecdote.

“That’s lovely,” he says, turning his attention back to you when you’re finished. “Dads and daughters, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

You pick up your phone to check the time. Shit. You have to return to the chat.

“I gotta go. Lunch break’s over.”

You collect your things and stand up, brushing off your skirt. Frankie stands up as well and picks up the book bag.

“I’ll see you in there?”

“I’m not a the desk today.”

“Oh.” He seems disappointed, his eyes flickering from you to the ground. “That’s too bad.”

“And the kids' section isn't my primary department.”

“The bad news just keep on coming, don't they,” he jokes as the two of you start to walk towards the entrance. Sofia jumps from the swing and comes running.

“She's not at the desk today, daddy,” she tells Frankie precociously.

“I know, mija. We'll have to ask someone else about the animal books, okay?”

Sofia doesn't seem too happy with this solution but nods. You take your leave before she has the opportunity to ask about your body modifications, and disappear through a door marked “Staff Only”.

📚📚📚

The following weeks you seem to see Frankie everywhere. You run into him at the supermarket and get drafted into advicing him on what cereal to buy for his kid. “Something healthy, but good so she'll actually eat it.” How the hell should I know? you want to scoff, but you're simping for him enough to help him choose something you'd never in a thousand years touch yourself. You see him in town one afternoon when you're running errands and he suggests you grab a coffee - holy hell, in your book that's a fucking date - but you decline as kindly as you can, citing a busy schedule when in fact you're mostly just scared out of your mind. The daydream is becoming a little too real and you're absolutely not ready for that, especially not because of the kid. If it wasn't for Sofia, you could have dared the leap, but dating a guy relatively fresh out of a marriage, and with a kid to boot? No, that's asking for trouble and you don't want trouble.

One afternoon at the kids' desk, you once again get to help Sofia find books, this time on sharks.

“She went from farm animals to sharks in one week,” Frankie confides in you when the girl is sitting quietly in a reading nook, carefully studying every page and occasionally widening her eyes at what you suspect is pictures of shark teeth. “It's sharks this and sharks that. She asks if there are sharks in every body of water she sees, from the pond in the park to the ditch outside my parents' house.”

“Have her watch Jaws and she will never want to think about sharks ever again,” you suggest, earning a laugh although the idea was probably a little bit on the morbid side.

“Maybe, but that would probably scar her for life. I actually want her to learn how to swim.”

“Then best not.”

You pick up a couple of books someone else left behind on a table and make a gesture that says I have to re-shelve these, come with and Frankie follows you to the right shelf.

“You know, she talks about you as her friend at the library.”

Now, some people would find that adorable but you don't. You're not friends with this kid, you're in a position where you could possibly influence her keenness to literature and literacy but you will always risk critique from her guardians. Being a children's librarian is like a hybrid between being in customer service, and being a teacher. You get to form young malleable minds but you are always subjected to criticism, even when you've done nothing wrong. Kids are patrons, like adults, and to have them see you as friends is only going to complicate things.

“That's nice,” you reply carefully, not really sure what else to say. It's so hard to talk to parents sometimes, one wrong words and you're basically Satan, you can't know because you don't have kids yourself, how dare you not worship the ground my offspring just vomited all over?

“You're definitely her favorite librarian.”

That you can take. You have a couple of adult patrons who come in regularly and prefer to get their reading recommendations from you. They always have time to discuss literature and they bring you a box of chocolates for Christmas.

“Well, she's easy to help. She always knows what she wants and she's polite. And quite easy to please,” you smile, meaning every word. You don't mention that the only time you like kids is when they're like Sofia is right now: reading quietly in a corner, handling the books with care.

“You're my favorite librarian as well,” Frankie adds, and now that sweet smile he's always wearing when you see him is shy. There's definitely a red tinge on his cheekbones as well and it makes you want to lean forward and kiss him on his goddamn mouth with that goddamn full lower lip that he sometimes sucks into his mouth or fucking licks...

“How many librarians do you know?” you ask and manage to sound easy-going, or at least you think so. The laugh Frankie produces is low and rolling and it makes your stomach coil in on itself. Fuck him and that deep voice he rode in on!

“Got me there. It's basically you and Mrs Wilkerson, the school librarian who scared the shit out of me when I was in elementary school. She made sure I didn't step foot in a library until, well, now.”

“Oh, I so wanted to be a librarian like that when I was a kid!” You grin at Frankie's horrified expression. “No, no, hear me out! I always had this idea that those librarians led these super rich, fulfilling lives as night-time vigilantes or that they were actually millionaires who spent their free time floating around in pools with fancy drinks in hand.”

“Were you... a normal child, besides these illusions?” Frankie teases you and before you can stop yourself, you're slapping his arm playfully. Like a girlfriend would. Or someone more intimate than a Favorite Librarian, at any rate.

“I'll have you know that the voices in my head are saying that we had a very normal and healthy childhood,” you reply with as much dignity as you can muster, while desperately wishing for the phone to ring or another patron to ask for your help. But no, the ones present seem to be managing on their own - except for one mom who seemed to have overheard your joke because she is now staring at you with hesitation in her eyes.

It's Sofia who comes to your rescue with her request of being taken to the bathroom. By the time she and Frankie are done there, your colleague has come to relieve you of your duties at the children's section.

📚📚📚

You knew of course that it was coming. You may not be that experienced in the terms of dating and relationships but you weren't stupid and you had some experience: Frankie was going to ask you out. It had to happen. Technically, it had already happened that afternoon in town when he asked you out for coffee. He maybe didn't see it as a date, but you certainly did.

It happened when you had just started your shift in the children's section and it was a fucking mess. A class of kindergarteners had just left and the teachers hadn't bothered to keep them in check, so there were not only books on every available surface, they were also put in the wrong way and in the wrong places. Your colleague who you were relieving stayed behind to help you, feeling too bad to leave it all to you.

That's when Daddy and Daughter Morales showed up. You weren't really happy about the existence of kids in the first place but made an effort for Sofia, who brought you a drawing she had made in preschool that day. It featured some figures in green, slightly reminiscent of animals and one human but you wouldn't be able to tell. Luckily, Frankie explained it to you.

“She's waited all day to give you this drawing of you with goats.”

“Wow,” you manage. “Thank you, Sofia, this was so kind of you.”

The girl is beaming with pride. “Will you put it on the wall?”

“Super probably!”

“I can see you're busy,” Frankie notes and ushers Sofia along. “We won't distract you. Come on, honey, let her do her job now and maybe you'll get to talk to her later.”

You nod your thanks and focus on cleaning up the entire department before you colleague leaves and Frankie and Sofia come to the desk to borrow this week' picks. Sofia seems uncharacteristically giddy.

“Do you want to come with us to the awbowetum?” she asks with a wide, expectant smile. Fuck shit ass hell.

“We're going on Saturday,” Frankie fills in, “and we were both hoping you'd want to join?”

Saturday. Thank goodness.

“Sorry, I work on Saturday,” you say, trying to sound rueful. It's true and you're relieved about not having to lie. “But thanks, it's sweet of you to ask.”

Sofia is clearly disappointed and so is Frankie, but he masks it better.

“Some other time, yeah?”

If it were only him, you'd tell him it wasn't a good idea. But you can't say that with the kid right in front of you. You may not like kids but that doesn't mean you want to scar them for life.

“Yeah, maybe.”

You loan them the books and as they leave, Sofia waves happily at you and Frankie shoots you one last smile that makes you press your thighs together in your seat.

Come Saturday, you're by your usual desk in the section for adult fiction and you almost fall off your chair when you see Frankie come up the stairs and straight up to the desk.

“Hi.” He's had a haircut and a shave and looks different. Still good, but very different. The dark locks of his hair are more tamed. The mustache is still there but you miss the patchy beard.

“Um, hi? Where's Sofia?”

“In the car, with a friend. We're going to the arboretum.”

“Right. I hope you have a good time, the arboretum's lovely.” You still don't understand what he's doing here and he seems to have some difficulty in telling you. Moving his weight from one foot to the other, he scratches his neck and looks down - why does he have to be so freaking cute? - before looking up at you.

“About that... I wanted to apologize. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask you to come with, but Sofia was so persistent. She likes you so much. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I'm sorry.”

“That's alright,” you brush it off because there's not really anything else you can say. “Don't think about it, just go have a good day.”

“I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go grab a drink with me. Just me. Maybe next week when Sofia's at her mother's.”

Fuck, there it is. His hopeful face makes you hate yourself for the answer you have to give.

“I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Frankie,” you begin carefully. “I'm really flattered, but you're... recently divorced with a kid. That's a lot of baggage and things could get complicated. I don't want to get caught up in that.”

You've practiced this speech at home but it still breaks your fucking heart because Frankie is so good-looking, kind, funny, and sweet. You would've asked him out yourself already if it wasn't for the baggage. Fuck, you masturbate to the thought of him, for crying out loud! You imagine what it would be like to be with him, to make dinner together and watch movies and go to bed and wake up in each other's arms. You think about sex with him a lot. You make an effort with your appearance those days you know he'll show up at the library, you don't even mind the kids' section that much anymore because you get to talk to him.

You are fucking in love with him, or at least the idea of him because you don't know much about him, only that he used to be a pilot in the special forces but now he trains new pilots, he has best friends who are like uncles to Sofia (and who have been asking about this mystery librarian she always keeps talking about), he likes cooking and loves baking with his daughter, he hates working out but knows he should take better care of himself, hell, you even know what brand of milk he buys.

He's clearly disappointed but keeps a brave face, one that you can see right through because he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“I understand that,” he says quietly, mildly. “I'm sorry, I hope I didn't embarrass you.”

Jesus fucking Christ can this man not???

“No, don't worry. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the answer you wanted. It's just... not a good time.”

Shit. You shouldn't have said that. Now he might think it could be a better time later.

Frankie nods and smiles sadly. “Yeah, you're probably right.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He clears his throat and nods. “I better be going. You have a good weekend now.”

“You too.”

He shoots you one final smile before he turns around and leaves. As you watch him go down the stairs to the exit level, you just want to call his name, do your run through the airport and hurry after him, throw yourself into his arms, kiss him, Jesus, imagine that somewhere there's someone who'll get to kiss him some day, tell him that you made a huge mistake and you want to go out with him, you want to have drinks with him and dinner and breakfast and lunch for the rest of your lives because nothing would make you happier than making him happy. You want to be the reason his eyes crinkle and his cheek displays that little dimple that makes you lose your train of thought every time you see it.

But it's not for you. People with kids need to prioritize their kids and you know that you can't be anyone's number two. You don't want to get caught up in custody disputes, you don't want to be "your father's new slut", you don't want to be anyone's stepmom. You don't want to have to spend five days a week in the same house as a five-year-old. Being in a relationship is difficult enough as it is and if you can make choices that avoid some of the problems, you're going to make them, no matter how much it hurts.

And it hurts. A lot. But so much in life hurts and you've made it through before.

He must already be out the door, probably in the car. Does he say something about this to his daughter and friend? Is it a female friend? No, it must be one of his army buddies, probably one of the brothers.

You pull up Frankie's profile in the library database and see his phone number. You could call him anytime. Or send a text. Keep talking to him, flirting.

Shit. It's a bad idea.

A patron approaches the desk and you force yourself to look mild and service-minded.

“Hi, do you have Hate To Want You by someone called... Ray, I think?”

“Please hold a moment, I'll check.” You stifle the sigh that threatens to escape you and hope that the day will be busy so you won't have time to think about Francisco Morales again.

#my fic #triple frontier #francisco catfish morales #francisco frankie morales #frankie morales #frankie morales x you #frankie morales x reader

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dragonmuse · 2 years

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I love all the frontfacing stuff and I think it's things I would be pretty good with, like helping customers, organizing events, cooperating with other organizations and desinging pretty displays. But I wonder if I'm getting a totally wrong idea of what it means to be a librarian in a public library. So, only if you don't mind talking about work in your time off, what are things you do that the customers don't see? What should someone know about it before going down this career path?

Gooood morning! I'd be happy to talk about it. Some caveats are that every library is different and I've worked mainly worked at one for most of my career, but I do talk to other librarians a great deal through various online groups. My experience is mainly suburban, rural and urban libraries sometimes have vastly different setups. Also I work in the adult section, but I do have a good relationship with the children's librarians (highly recommend this, they are almost to a one, very kind and interesting people and also are great at re-using things for crafts etc. You will get great ideas from them.)

I am going to talk about front-facing for a bit just because I actually think it's the thing people overlook the most when thinking about going into libraries. The most amazing thing about public libraries is that it's one of the few places anyone can walk into and not be asked to buy anything. It's a great feeling to work somewhere like that and you will help a lot of people! Most days I walk out with a good warm feeling, have talk to lots of interesting and thoughtful people!

What follows is not to dissuade you, it's just the part that a library school professor probably won't discuss.

You will also be dealing with things that you are not equipped to help with or find overwhelming. Even at a relatively quiet library, I have been screamed out for any number of perceived wrongs, tried to help someone who is in the middle of a severe mental health episode, and dealt with complaints from other patrons about odors or mannerisms that the other person simply can't help.

I've had people looking at pornography on a public screen just to provoke a reaction. Sometimes people will try to flirt with you or try to make you uncomfortable in that manner.

I worked in retail before libraries and it can be very similar in this way, except in retail the interactions have natural limits. In libraries, sometimes someone difficult to work with will be there all day every day just skirting the line of what's acceptable.

This is a very small minority of the interactions that I've had, but they stick with you. You will sometimes feel very helpless when you see someone suffering. You will sometimes be scared at the level of anger someone can bring to a banal interaction.

The back end of library work that people might not see? There's politics! You might have a board that you answer to or a town council and people are concerned about how their taxes are being spent. Sometimes they don't value the library very much at all and you will spend time fighting for scraps of budget.

On a day to day basis, your job will really depend on how many other librarians work with you. The smaller the staff, the more hats you wear. At a very large library, your sole job might be to work the desk and maybe do some collection development. The smaller it gets, you might be running book clubs and programs, doing IT, social media, dealing with database vendors, maybe cataloging. If you're small enough (my first job I was the only employee!), you might be doing the shelving and circulation duties too. You might do desk schedules, manage people, or sometimes fix things if there's no one else around to do it.

You will likely not get paid very much. A library degree is the third worst paid master's degree in the US (other two are teaching and social work). Before you seriously consider library school, please look at the job listings in your area. It's not unusual for the director of a small library to be making the same salary as a starting teacher in the same area. You will almost definitely have to work at least one or two nights a week and probably weekends here and there. Libraries are open for the public's convenience which means weekends and after work.

Circulation of physical items has dropped year over year for the last twenty years. The job is less about books every day. It's about being a community center, an internet cafe, and a safe (hopefully) place to stay during the day.

I know that's really broad, so let me know if you want me to zoom in on anything specific.

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historyhermann · 2 years

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It’s all about that Kaisa: Analyzing the breakout witchy librarian in Hilda

In recent years, librarians have become more prominent in animated series. Unfortunately, most of these librarians either only appear in one episode, like Wong and O’Bengh/Cagliostro in What…If?, and Mira and Sahil in Mira, Royal Detective, or are stereotypical and problematic. There are some exceptions. Librarians Sara, Sarah, and Jeffrey/Desiree in Too Loud, Amity Blight in The Owl House, Naoufel in I Lost My Body, and Myne in Ascendance of a Bookworm all defy stereotypes in their own ways. Apart from these characters, one character shines through. She has become one of the best depictions of librarians in fiction, especially in animation, for some time. Her name is Kaisa. She is a casually gothic, witchy librarian in Hilda, an all-ages animated series. This article will analyze this character, noting her significance in representations of librarians in fiction.

Although Kaisa’s character only appears in six of the show’s 26 episodes – not even 23% of the series – she has become a smash hit among fans. She even appeared in three graphic novels by Luke Pearson that the series is based on: Hilda and the Great Parade, Hilda and the Nowhere Space, and Hilda and the Ghost Ship. There is a subreddit for her, which has over 180 subscribers, voluminous fan art, and cosplays!

Currently, fans have written over 90 fan fictions featuring her character on Archive of Our Own. The UK retail seller Forbidden Planet has shirts, keychains, and pins featuring the character. While Kaisa’s name is not revealed until the second season, she is based on the name of a Swedish actress with the same first name: Kaisa Hammarlund. As such, her voice is an “amalgamation of Nordic accents.”

Kaisa after casting a spell in the episode “Chapter 3: The Witch,” in the show’s second season, with Hilda and Frida alongside her.

Kaisa in the first season

In the show’s first season, she remains mysterious, only appearing briefly. She is still shown as having an unmatched knowledge of cemeteries, the dead, and mystical items. At first, she helps Hilda and her friends, giving them books of interest and anticipating their questions.

At one point, she reminds Hilda that reference books are not taken from the hidden special collections room. She gives Hilda, who is a bit snobbish in how she treats a reference book in one episode, the right materials so she can raise the dead! At the end of the first season, she is shown outside the library, walking across the streets of the city of Trolberg. According to a new interview, Kaisa was supposed to have more scenes in this initial season, but the crew and producers weren’t sure how to develop her character at the time. Despite this, by the end of that first season, she had become a breakout star.

Kaisa in the second season

In the second season, which aired in December 2020, Frida and Hilda help Kaisa find a missing book, with all three of them fighting beasts and finishing challenges on their way. Although they eventually find the book, the committee of three witches chastise them for not turning it in on time (it’s over 30 years late at that point), and they are sucked into a void, where a monster awaits them. This was the beginning of an expansion of plot points from season 1.

While Kaisa uses her witch powers to try and save them, she is helped by Frida and Hilda. They give her the right book so she can make sure the void is subdued, and all three escape unscathed! After all of that, she is still grateful to an elderly patron and powerful witch who was her mentor, a person who is pleasantly surprised to see her as a librarian. She is later shown outside the library in the same season, fighting Tide Mice who can take over people’s minds.

Kaisa asks Frida and David about body swapping in the recent film, Hilda and the Mountain King

Kaisa in the new movie, Hilda and the Mountain King

Not surprisingly, Kaisa appears in the recent film, Hilda and the Mountain King, a continuation of the animated series. Although she only has a guest appearance, she has an important part in the film. Frida asks her for help in reversing a spell cast on Hilda which has made her swap bodies with a troll. At first, Kaisa agrees to help but stops when she realizes it wouldn’t work, having a “purely mechanical understanding of the situation,” as one fan put it. While Frida is annoyed by this, when she tries to use the spellbook anyway, it doesn’t work, as witch magic can’t be mixed with troll magic.

Kaisa is shown to be right all along, to the chagrin of Frida, and David, to a lesser extent. Reportedly, in early stages of the film’s development, the crew tried to incorporate Kaisa into the climax of the film. According to the movie’s director, Andy Coyle, the scene had Kaisa rebelling against the rule that witches shouldn’t interfere in a fight. Sadly, the scene was cut from the final film because of a “limited amount of screentime.”

Characteristics of the Trolberg library and Kaisa the librarian

The library where Kaisa works appears to be “ordinary” on the outside. It is grand inside, with secret passageways going through one special collections room after another. This ultimately leads to an inner chamber with a committee of three witches controlling the Witches Tower. There are so many resources that someone could stay there for hours and days, studying to their heart’s content. It is a magic library in more ways than one, and is amazing, as real-life librarians have recognized.

Kaisa explains why she can’t help Frida and David in the recent film, Hilda and the Mountain King

Kaisa is a principled librarian who likely has a MLIS degree and is an atypical librarian who has a life outside the library. Her portrayal fulfills what I’ve termed the “Librarian Portrayal Test.” She is a twenty-something who wears headphones, like Kino does in Kino’s Journey, has a cassette player, and is skilled with magic. Despite this, Kaisa, like any librarian, is tasked with enforcing the roles. In one episode, she tells the show’s protagonists to “keep it down,” but never shushes them.

Her character has led some librarians to “feel seen” and others to note she used skills from her “previous career path” (as a witch) to save the day. Others have used Kaisa as a way to praise librarians more broadly. While some have said that her job isn’t as realistic as it might seem, some have countered this by saying that Kaisa and the series as a whole, communicates “very positive messages about libraries.”

She has a unique appearance since the series is in an intentionally nebulous time frame. It has a setting that is something familiar, something foreign. The series and the film was described by the director of Hilda and the Mountain King, to be set, vaguely, in the early 1990s. The series, and the film, are also inspired by Scandinavian folklore. This makes it no surprise that the two-leveled Trolberg library has “outdated” elements like library slips and card catalogs, along with “newer” elements like copiers. Despite this, it is abundantly clear that she has experienced burnout as a librarian. In one episode, she argued that patrons who borrow books are liable to return them, tying into the debate among librarians and libraries over the role of patrons.

Some have argued that Kaisa might be asexual, basing it on her character’s colors (purple, black, grey, and white), even though this supposition has not been confirmed, or denied, by the show’s creator or anyone on the show staff. If this is the case, Kaisa would be one of the recent depictions of LGBTQ librarians in pop culture such as Desiree in Too Loud and Amity Blight in The Owl House.

Undoubtedly, Kaisa will reappear in the show’s next, and final, season, which will go beyond the graphic novel series by Luke Pearson that the series is based on, and likely into new, and exciting, places. The season, which may premiere later this year, will likely be 13 episodes long, allowing for Kaisa to, once again, get a chance to shine in the animated series, serving as an important depiction of librarians in popular culture.

A bit about Burkely

Burkely Hermann is an archivist and researcher who works for the National Security Archive (NSA). He graduated from University of Maryland with an MLIS degree with a concentration in Archives & Digital Curation in December 2019, and earned a B.A. in Political Science, minoring in history, in May 2016 from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He was recently elected as a member of the Society of American Archivists Steering Committee. He currently writes about libraries on his blog Pop Culture Library Review and about archives on his blog Wading Through The Cultural Stacks. He presently writes pop culture reviews of animated series and webcomics for The Geekiary and Pop Culture Maniacs. He also writes about his family history roots, and sometimes writes pieces for I Love Libraries, an initiative of the American Library Association. He has also been published in the American Archivist Reviews Portal, the SNAP Roundtable, Issues & Advocacy, Neurotastic, and the NSA website. In his spare time, he writes about fictional works, volunteers as a National History Day judge, likes hiking, reading webcomics, watching animated series, and occasionally swimming.

Sources used

Becker, Becky Briggs. “So @DeerTrivia & I finaly watched the Hilda S2 episode w/ librarian witch Kaisa riding an enchanted vacuum cleaner to suck up magical soul sucker mice. Love how this season expanded on previous season plot points. @darling_sammy @history_hermann,” Twitter, 30 Jan. 2021

Bunyan, Stephen. “Season 2 of @hildatheseries drops tomorrow on Netflix and Im super excited to be able to finally show off all the work we did on it! Have some Librarian slacking off to hold you over until it comes out. #Hilda #HildaTheSeries #HildaSeason2 #HildaFanart,” Twitter, 13 Dec. 2020

Clemente, Mike. “The Witch – (Hilda Season 2 Episode 3) – ‘Toon Reviews 46,” MC Toon Reviews, 8 Jun. 2021

Cook, Rhianna. “Absolutely loving this series! At least as much as I love the comics! It helps that it features an amazing library with a super cool librarian that anticipates the needs of the user before they even know what they want! #IAmALibrarian #Hilda #comics #PicturesMeanBusiness,” Twitter, 25 Sept. 2018

Davis, Victoria. “‘Hilda and the Mountain King’: Why We Love Our Trolls,” Animation World Network, 7 Jan. 2022

Definitely: Max. “I’m looking for jobs and you know what I REALLY want to do? I want to be the witch librarian from Hilda. I want to be up on a ladder shelving books and slide down when a kid is like “we need a book about ghosts” and hand it to them and leave. But that job doesn’t exist ,” Twitter, 13 Jul. 2021

Deo, Meera. “Librarians are superheroes! Many have gone way beyond the scope of their jobs to be campus #COVID testers, substitute teachers, & IT support. Extra pay? No way. Some aren’t even called “faculty” tho they do the work. One of many ways #PandemicEffects exploit existing hierarchies,” Twitter, 4 May 2021

“Five results for “hilda, librarian”,” Forbidden Planet, 2022

Hammarlund, Kaisa. “Go Hilda! And with a guest appearance from your favourite goth librarian[.] Streaming on @netflix now! @BabbleVoice,” Twitter, 30 Dec. 2021

Hammarlund, Kaisa. “Thanks Erfan! We love the show too. Kaisa is deliberately played with an amalgamation of Nordic accents. We wanted her to be a bit mysterious to place. So a mix of Icelandic and Swedish would be correct:),” Twitter, 2 Dec. 2021

Hammarlund, Kaisa. “Thank you! We adore our Lil Librarian Witch. Glad you’re enjoying season 2 as much as us,” Twitter, 15 Dec. 2020

Hammarland, Kaisa. “Thank you Matthew! We had such a giggle in the studio. Especially with the mean Marra;) And I agree..the mysterious Björk-ish librarian is ace. Perhaps she’s got more to come.. #TeamHilda,” Twitter, 25 Sept. 2018

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“Library,” Hilda wiki, 7 Nov. 2021

MacTaggert, Michael. “And remembering the entire “Hilda” episode that culminated in Kaisa conquering her anxiety about practicing magic as a “failure” of a witch by reading a magic book and using skills from her previous career path to save the day,” Twitter, 14 Mar. 2021

Miss Library. “I love that the Hilda creators put Kaisa the library witch in this show I feel so seen!,” Twitter, 17 Jun. 2021

Mohr, Sara. “Just finished watching the animated series Hilda on Netflix. It was recommended to me because the Librarian is a witch who know just what book you need before you even ask her. I can also definitely get behind the very positive messages about libraries,” Twitter, 26 Apr. 2021

mossedman. “I love that she didn’t even hesitate to help them and only stoped [sic] when she realized it wouldn’t work. It was never about morals or ethics, just a purely mechanical understanding of the situation,” Reddit, 4 Jan. 2022

Pearson, Luke. “I’m afraid it was not intentional on my part. I don’t know who exactly did her final design and made her hair purple though, so it’s not impossible,” Twitter, 18 Dec. 2020

The 2nd Dimension, “Making Hilda and the Mountain King | Full Interview with Director Andy Coyle and AD Megan Ferguson,” YouTube, 22 Jan. 2022. In the video, see 25:14-26:30, 17:57-19:00, and 2:08:39-2:08:52.

“Void of No Return,” Hilda wiki, 29 Sept. 2021

Zahed, Ramin. “Creative Team Behind ‘Hilda and the Mountain King’ Discuss Her Next Big Adventure,” Animation Magazine, 22 Dec. 2021

Reprinted from Reel Librarians since my main site, Pop Culture Library Review, was taken down (now its back up, with the post available here) in a decision that was never explained.

#librarians #libraries #what if...?#mira royal detective #too loud #the owl house #i lost my body #ascendance of a bookworm #hilda #asexuals #lgbtq #mlis

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archivlibrarianist · 3 years

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Oh thank goodness I found you. I know that's a random introduction but as a post grad MLS haver, I need some solid career advice. I've been trying for 3 months to get a job at a library doing LITERALLY ANYTHING so I can work up to being a librarian. I was even interviewed twice for the same position at a library. I was rejected the first time bc I had 'no library experience' even though it was an entry level job and the second time bc 'it looks like you really want to be a librarian' and even after explaining that I want literally ANY JOB in a library I was still rejected. It's super fucking frustrating, how do I differentiate myself from other candidates? I've been using a short resume and a cover letter and even linked my ePortfolio. Any help is appreciated! :)

First of all, I'm sorry that you've had such a frustrating search, when it's clear that you've worked very hard to accomplish your MLS. So, before I give you any advice, I want to make two things clear:

Luck is a huge factor of career success.

With #1 in mind, don't beat yourself up over failures. Sometimes, you're just unlucky, and that's all.

Because of a lot of factors, this is going to take time. Most of these factors-- the fact that the library profession is aging and shrinking, among them-- are going to be out of your control. What's in your control is your skills and your experience, so while you're casting around looking for a library job, try to keep those relevant. One way is through volunteering. Another way is through finding work similar to the library work you want. To start, think about what in library work you like to do the most. Do you enjoy reference? Reader's advisory? Event programming? Metadata and cataloging? There's work out there related to that, even if it's not in a library. Reference and reader's advisory happen in most retail spaces, especially for books, movies, and games. Event programming can be akin to party planning. And metadata and cataloging-- my gods, anywhere you look, people selling things, especially on the internet-- need it cataloged and listed properly. Also, don't be afraid to cast your net wider than libraries. Museums, art galleries, parks, schools, and even book/journal/database vendors all can have places for librarians and folks with library degrees. Same with public facilities like your local Parks and Recreation department. When you look for volunteer work, look along those same lines too. Be upfront and honest that you're looking to pad your resume and get some career experience. Plenty of places will understand, and will help you make connections that you can later ask for references. And finally, look around at your local and state-- if any-- library associations. They're a great way to meet people and learn new things, and a lot of times, they'll have opportunities and discounts for library school students or people new to the profession.

Good luck!

#tumblarians #librarians #library school #library school graduates #new to librarianship #starting your career #career advice

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teawiththegods · 3 years

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What was working at B&N like? I'm thinking of applying for a job there, but I can't for the life of me handle money, so I'm hoping to work at information if I'm given a choice. I've also thought of working at a library (congrats on that, btw, lovely!), but when I worked for my school's librarian as an intern when I was still in high school, she said that I needed a specific degree first and that it's apparently four to six years.

I myself have already graduated community college, but not with a Liberal Arts degree and not one in Library Science. And on top of that, the closest college that offers it isn't even anywhere near where I live and doing online classes is a struggle for me.

I mean the higher up positions in the library like a Librarian yes you need a specific degree but what I’m doing all I needed was a civil service exam and HS diploma. So it really depends on what you’re looking to do in the library. Tho if you want a higher position working in the library however way you can get in the library is strongly encouraged.

But as for BN, it’s difficult because there were aspects I enjoyed and aspects I absolutely hated. I do think it does greatly depend on the store because they really are all different. I will say it is difficult to completely stay away from the registers. That’s usually where they train you first even if they plan on putting you on the book floor at some point. Also it’s pretty common for those at information to possibly cover breaks or shifts at the register. I mean like I said all stores are different and my store was huge and busy so we were all just bodies being thrown places tho that does seem to be a common theme in most retail jobs so I’m just preparing you for that.

Honestly I would look more into the libraries and see about the Library Clerk positions. That’s my position but it’s specifically in the technical services department so I do all the backend stuff with the books as opposed to circulation which is the people at the front dear who check out your books and help you sign up for a library card. I mean all states are different but I can’t imagine those needing much qualifications regardless.

Listen I am grateful for my time at BN it ultimately is what helped me get my library job but if you can skip retail and do something else (like the library) then do that.

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dropintomanga · 4 years

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A Cheap Win for Manga (In a Good Way)

You know as much as I sometimes worry about manga’s reputation as being “cheap” with regards to the quality of the paper used in Japan and how scanlations have pissed off manga industry folks, maybe I have to look at the other side of the picture.

And seeing all the manga love in the form of rising sales during the pandemic has made me realize that. It’s not just video games that are doing well.

Manga seems to entering an interesting phase in America where fans are binge-reading and also catching up on older series they passed up on earlier. Volume 1s of popular series are still selling, but box sets of manga (finished series with all the volumes) have become the rage. Manga has outperformed general books for the most part. It’s somewhat unreal, but then there’s a quote in this article about manga during the COVID-19 era.

“What do you attribute the interest in manga to? Is it less competition from other forms of entertainment?

I think it's cost-effective; it's a cheap way into entertainment. Our manga is $9.99, and discounted online almost everywhere. For the price of a month of a subscription service you can read the majority of a series, or at least a few volumes.

Also, people can't go to movie theaters. There's that money that they're not spending in theaters. I think it's just very cost-effective.” - Viz Media VP of Publishing Sales, Kevin Hamric on Viz Media manga selling well during the COVID-19 pandemic

Never would I have thought to hear the term “cost-effective” when it comes to manga. I mostly hear it in mental health circles. For a lot of folks fighting for better mental health treatment, there’s a lot of talk on providing cost-effective ways to help others. Outside systems can be too generalized for some folks. Getting professional therapy is often expensive. Often there are better ways to help other people at a fraction of the cost.

I do think manga (mostly print) is discounted everywhere nowadays in most websites. One of my favorite manga retailers always has new manga at a 20% discount. Plus discounts in other forms of entertainment are only cheap at certain specific points (i.e. video games/movies and summer/holiday sales). I also worry about the future of streaming when a movie on a subscription service is being offered for $30 upfront on top of already paying a monthly/yearly charge for that same subscription service.

However, I don’t think manga being cost-effective is the major reason why manga is still doing just fine in America. I think it’s more of the fact that teens and young adults, the big majority of the manga market here, love to read stuff a lot more. Some articles I found on Pew Research suggest that young adults in America read more books than seniors do, especially print books. I also found out that younger generations, starting with the millennial demographic, frequent libraries a bit more. This is mostly due to libraries being more than just libraries as they provide kid-friendly events, job search resources, community workshops, classes, etc. There’s a good chance of exposure to manga along the way here if librarians are keen on making their manga catalog superb.

Still, I do agree that it’s cheaper to get into manga than say, buying a brand-new game console and a game to go along with it. Manga also offers something that’s still important that most forms of entertainment can’t provide - a variety of stories that appeal to anyone’s emotional state and frame of mind. I notice in other forms of entertainment that most mainstream stories get way too dark or way too cheery for their own sake. There’s not much room for ambiguity and/or the “right” amounts of cheerfulness versus grit. I feel like manga still has something for everyone and that’s why it’s still relevant in 2020 because manga will make you feel all the emotions due to the creative freedom mangaka are allowed to have.

And if you ask me, the small things you can easily do (in this case, buying and reading manga) with little cost, can end up paying huge dividends that help everyone.

#manga industry #manga #cost-effective #psychology #manga fandom

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macattackp · 5 years

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10 Crazy Things Gen X,Y, and Z Have Accomplished

1. Have made sites like Google and Wikipedia widely accepted They are not academically accepted, but considering in the 4th grade (2000-2001) the school librarian told our class “Google is useful but it will never replace a library for finding information!” I think we’ve come pretty far...

2. Have flipped retail on its head It was originally “They who had the most physical stores was the leader” but thanks to the rise of online shopping, physical store locations are now taught to be a unnecessary cost and has caused a number of franchise giants to tumble

3. Have Integrated Technology Into Daily Life In the fifth grade (2001-2002) I wrote a letter to my local MP explaining how computers could be used to save trees by saving paper, as well as give students less weight to carry with textbooks and such, and could raise accuracy in spelling and math. The response I got was that it was a nice idea, but computers were so complicated and expensive that we probably wouldn’t see this for another 30-40 years. Here we are less than 20 years later and look how far we’ve come! Side story: In the second grade (1997-1998) we were given basic calculators for $15 to learn how to use them and were told that while they were powerful, they were too expensive so we shouldn’t get used to them as the day would never come where we could just have a calculator on us at all times.

4. We Have Survived and Established Ourselves During The Great Recession The 2008 housing market crash has been bad.... We are STILL suffering from it... Companies over 100 years old have gone bankrupt... whole countries have gone bankrupt! The entire concepts of business that have been taught were flipped on its head. The great recession has been reported as being at least twice as severe as the 80′s recession and closer to the great depression from an economic standpoint. Yet here we are. If we can’t afford our own house, we’ll share one. If we can’t get a job we’ll make one. If we can’t afford things we’ll make our own. This generation is far from a comfortable one... I sometimes tear up thinking about how my “wild dream” is one day having a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom all to myself... and how greedy I feel if I say a laundry room to myself would also be nice.... but we’re surviving! This economy is a mess with people clinging to what little they have until they die and we’re still moving forward. That is crazy.

5. We Are So Educated, We Have Made Degrees Commonplace Have you ever wondered why job requirements are so crazy? Like “Entry Level Job: Must have masters degree and 8 years experience!” It’s because of supply and demand.... So many people have university degrees, that the value of a degree on its own has bottomed out.... Yes this makes it a pain to get any kind of job.... and is INCREDIBLY rough on those without degrees... but think of how crazy that is!! How many times in history have so educated?? We may not have the value appreciated by other jobs, but think of how much we can do and understand that people before us never could! Information is power. Wisdom is steering. Understanding is direction. Just think of what we’re capable of?

6. We Have Changed Media Forever Think about how many areas of education has changed. Television has lost its monopoly due to streaming services, youtube, and livestream services. The concept of “Celebrity” has changed with social media celebrities. We’ve seen the rise of consoles with the fall of PC games, and the fall of consoles with the subsequent rise of PC games. Digital media, indie games, web comics, flash animations, deviantArt, Tumblr.... All of these things had never existed before. As a kid I used to spend hours trying to draw comics on dot matrix printer paper because I wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist when I grew up... Now with webcomics and online news, the whole industry has been flipped upsidedown. It is both incredibly accessible and incredibly difficult to stand out.

7. We Have Made The World More International I know people in Japan, Sweden, Norway, England, India, Africa, UAE, China, Australia, Holland, America, Mexico, and more places.... In fact I probably know these people more than I know the people who live on my street! The world has become incredibly international. Business has changed as you can work in real time with someone halfway around the world. Friendships have changed, as you can comfort and encourage people you’ve never met in real life. Science and History has changed, because countries that originally could only compare notes once every so often, now do so in real time, and we can see and talk about the variances between what we’ve grown up knowing.

8. We Have Changed Priorities From “The Most Stuff” to “The Most Experiences.” From “Financial Security” to “Mental Stability.” From “The Most Fame” to “The Most Impact.” The rise of arts. The rise of casual familiarity. The desire to learn. All of these priorities have changed as our generation has grown.

9. We Have Shaken Franchise Culture Franchises owned the world. The Ma and Pa shop had fallen to the names such as Walmart, Target, McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. While franchises still exist, they seem to really be a shell of who they once were. Some franchises have even taken on the business strategy of “We will survive until I retire.” with no thoughts of what will be left afterwards. Meanwhile freelancers, entrepreneurs, startups, and online services have grown exponentially. They may not have the most money and power (yet) but there has been a change that has occured. One of which the results have yet to be fully seen.

10. We Continue to Grow Our generation puts up with a LOT. Our unemployment/underemployment rate is massive (though this is usually brushed over with statistics). The lives we’ve worked 20-some years for seems to crumble away from us. We’re forced to live 4-8 people per house due to the ridiculous prices of housing. We often work numerous jobs just to earn enough to get by. We get blamed for being entitled, lazy, and killing industries like fabric softener. (Wish I was kidding on that).... And yet we still live.... We adapt... We apply what we’ve learned.

We can’t afford hotels, so we go AirBnB. We can’t afford designer clothes so we go to Etsy or Amazon. We can’t get funding for medical conditions or emergencies so we help each other through GoFundMe, Patreon, or more... We are tenacious. We are adaptive. We don’t give up!

It’s easy to feel like we’re powerless in this world. We don’t have much money. The news stations rail on us all the time as the world’s biggest mistake. We’re forced to work jobs we don’t want for pay that barely keeps us going... It’s easy to feel powerless, weak, forgotten.... But look back on what we’ve done... this is just a small portion, I’m sure you can think of more! These are the things the history books will remember. These are the things our children and grandchildren will one day ask us about.

We Are World Shakers!

#Millennials #gen x #gen y #gen z #history #economy #technology #economics #millennial problems

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